Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-02-13
BIRDS INDIA.
Curious SuperstitiOns OF the Hin
docs CONCERNING Ihena.
[st James Gazette.

docs CONCERNING Ihens.
fst. James Gazeite.l
In India, as elsewhere, the common
owl is bird Of ill-omen, but white
species is held in high esteem by the
Hindoos. The white owl is always
supposed to bring good luck; hence it
is held sacred to the Goddess of Pros
perity, and the people are pleased when
1t builds its nest in their houses. In
the country these birds often establish
their quarters in the darkest hooks and
corners of old houses, breeding there
generally twice a year, and producing
five or six Young ones at time, and all
their screeching and shrieking is en-
dured for luck's sake 1t il considered
great good fortune to get a glimpse of a
white owl in the daytime. The crow
bears the same evil reputation in India
as in other countries, its cry thrice
repeated being thought sure token
of death. But in some parts a crow
or raven cawing only once on the
left of young woman is held as a sign
that her lover is coming to meet her.
The name of the bat is never uttered at
night by the common people, the belief
being that the utterer would soon lose
all his property. In the villages 1t is
believed that if q pregnant woman sit
ting on the house-roof sees a bat flying
over her head, she will never be deliy-
cred of her child until the same bird
passes over her again.
A curious legend about the chakca
or Brahmini duck is found all over
India. For some indiscretiOn two
lovers were turned into Brahmini
ducks and condemned to pass the night
apart from each other on opposite
banks ola river. Allnightlong eachasks
in its turn if it shall Join its
mate, and the answer is always
no. "Chakwa, shall | come ~
" No. chakwi." Chakwi. shall
7 come ?" "No, chakwa.' The cha-
kor, or Indian red-legged partridge,
which is found all over the Himalayas
(the hen lays from ten to fifteen eggsL
is said to be eHamored OF the moon
and to eat fire at the full moOn-p0ssi-
blv from the fact Of its seeming to
hover about the moon. The appear
ance Of the chatak, small bird, is
held to presage a good shower of rain.
the bird living only on rain-drops and
always crying for them.
The peacock is said to scream and
dance with JOY at the sound Of thunder
and be "dances, dances on; when he
looks down he weeps anon ~ lat the
sight of his ugly feet, they say). The
peacock is credited with strong thievish
propcnsities, as appears from this say
ing: 1.-The deer, the monkey, the
partridge, and the peacock rob the field
of its store" Anything that betrays
itself is likened to "a peacock in the
thiefs house "a saying founded on
the story of peacock which swallowed
a gold necklace brought home by
thi.f. This bird is sacred to the Hin
doc god of beauty, who is represented
as riding on it.
The kite, the hawk, and the yulture
are all regarded as very unlucky birds.
The screechiDg of the first brings Sc
rious misfortune, the sight of the sec
ond famine and oppression, and the
approach Of the third death. BY whirl-
ing kite around the head of a Muslin
child on q Tuesday or Saturday and
then letting it 60 great blessings
are insured to the little one. FOwlers
trade. on this superstition. Kites
sometimes carry off gold ornaments,
and Mohammedan women say the rea-
son is because the young kites viii not
oren their eyes until some gold SPACED
in the nest hence the saying, "rhe
philosophers stone is in the kites
nest" The half-mythical gayUf1,
kind of eagle sometimes called "adJu.
tant, is the mortal enemy of snakes
The legend goes that the mother Of ga
ruda quarrelled with her sister, who
was the mother of the snakes, re-
specting the color of the horse that
was produced at the chuning Of
the ocean and since that time
there has been constant enmity between
their descendants. On the occasion of
gnruda S marriage, the serpents, alarmed
at the thought of his having children
who might destroy them, made fierce
attack on him; but ne slew them all
save one, which he has since worn us
an ornament round his neck. To this
day supcrstitious Hindoos repeat the
name OF garuda three times when walk
ing in the fields, and before going to
sleep ct night, as safeguard against
snakes.
The crane is considered to be the
most cunning of all birds. Ii stations
itself quietly by a pool, apparently alb
sorbed in meditation till it sees fish
to dart upon. So the word "crane
has become synonymous with "hypO-
critic, traitor" ETC., in Sanskrit and
the languages derived from it. A
crane is said to have betrayed
the hiding-place of one of the
Pandaya brothers whose adventures
are described in the Sanskrit epic Ma
habharata. The pigeon is thought TO
be suspicious. Pigeons are carefully
reared in houses, which they are be-
hoved to preserve from decay. The
dove is looked upon as a harbinger of
good luck. The sight of a pair of doves
by young married lady whose hus-
band is away from home means that he
viii come back to her soon.
There is woman's saying that the
cuckoO's note heard ON the right IS an
excellent omen; and yet the cuckoo is
Held to be an unlucky bird in most
parts of India. The bird papiya, OF
the parrot species, is said to cry - Ny
eye is going" from the legend that
once man, seeing many wicked
Beds done before his eyes, died
uttering these words, and was trans
formed into the bird. Superstitious
people are afraid to do anything
wrong before papiyd, lest it should
betray them. One little bird bears the
curious designation of "The Bird Of
the Lost Money because it seems 10
utter in low voice something that
means, "Oh have you kept, or have
/ kept it ?" There is a tradition that
its first ancestors were a man and wife,
who having lost all their wealth died
heart-broken, and were transformed
into these birds. The country folk be-
Heve that if you jingle money before
them they Will curse you, believing il
to be their own.
lm Hurry to Reach the Field.
fChicago Herald